Mud Day

Sometimes on hot days, we find an empty dirt spot at grandma's house and fill it with water.
[That's right. This is going to be glamorous.]

The trickiest part about mud day is the actual getting to grandma's house.
[I would host mud day, but I'm not sure our landlords would be thrilled with the idea...]

Big C's mommy was sick so the 5 year old wasn't with us today. There are pros and cons to this: on one hand, a bigger kid is mature enough to actually help the younger ones, but at the same time, it's one less person to prep for. But despite having one less kid to wrangle, there was laundry to put away, a house to pick up, a baby needing to nap, and a very [I mean, VERY] tired mama to inspire.

Staggered sleep is seriously the worst. And the struggle IS real. After a full day of just life the night before, I didn't get to bed until 1am and the baby got up at 2am to eat. I woke up again at 6am to find out that Big C wasn't coming, and then flopped back into bed... only to be woken by adorable children at 8am. So considering time spent trying to fall back to sleep, I'm counting a generous 6 hours of very interrupted sleep.
[Setting myself up for success, right there. Woop woop.]

So "scheduling" to get out the door by 10:30am didn't happen.

But after some please-give-me-energy tea, chores, and a few unavoidable delays (like driving across town to sign the release to sell my old car) we were on our way...

And it was so worth it.

With unbrushed hair and some dumpy play clothes on, my Little C grabbed the hose and filled up the mud hole.

Eventually she found her way into the mud "bath"...

And brought some friends along with her.

I even got a spa treatment while we were muddin' it up. [And it was surprisingly refreshing...]

Clean up can be stressful for some, so this may not be for everyone. [My kids will definitely have good immune systems.] But for me, hosing them down and letting them swim in the pool [possibly naked?] afterwards is good enough...

...especially on days when your energy is low and creativity is pretty much inexistent.

It's also nice to have a super awesome Grandma nearby who lets you actually do mud day.
[Oh and yes, eventually she did get a real bath that night.]

Boots in the Face, Hopscotch & Simon Says

Nope. Today did not start out on the right foot. Literally.

My morning wake-up call consisted of hair being pulled and someone getting a cowboy boot in the face.
[Isn't life with little girls magical?]

Yep, just when Mama had drifted back to sleep after the baby's early morning feeding, fighting broke that beautiful, quiet morning and the day began spiraling face-first into discipline & doom. Super.

It took me a while to [sort of] get my head on. But eventually I discovered that prayer and fresh air do wonders for the grumpies! After a [very] quick prayer for help, I shoved the girls out into the yard and was struck with a completely original idea: hopscotch!
[Who remembers that?? Ha! I'm a genius.] 

In desperation, I whipped out our misshapen chalk and drew out those little squares.
[Blue, of course...the girls are obsessed with all things blue.] Watching a 5 and 3 year old hop across the sidewalk is hysterical! They thought it was brilliant. [Yes, children, I am the Mama - master of chalk magic!] Neither one of them could really hop on one foot, so they ended up sort of galloping all over the sidewalk. But hey - they were entertained and not fighting, so I call that success!!


My 3 year old also just started swimming lessons and is having trouble paying attention to her teacher. The Hubs takes her twice a week and is constantly reminding her to listen. Yes, I know she's three and it's expected, but I feel bad for the poor teacher who wrangles these crazy squirrels.

So in [yep] desperation to help her focus [and keep daddy from losing his mind], I was somehow struck with the idea of Simon says. You know how it goes: "Simon says, clap your hands!" And somehow that magically gets them to obey. Anything crazy and loud makes the big girls light up, so the game we played went something like this:

Mama: Simon says, sit on your booty!

C & C: *booties plop onto the floor and a million giggles erupt*

Mama: Simon says, kick your feet in the air!

C & C: *feet kicking and pure laughter*

Success.

Maybe I should try more playing and being silly on those hard days...

Because I'm the Mama

How do mommy bloggers do it? How do they carve out quality time to sit down and write a solid post? How do some make their life look so fabulous and organized, and others share such raw, tear-jerker details that I can't stop reading?  Heck, the only reason I'm actually writing right now is because the Hubby and I had a little tiff, he fell asleep, and now I can't shut my brain off at midnight.
But I guess that's one way to get some writing done.

Before these tiny people came along, I knew who I was, what I wanted [sort of], and how I wanted to live my life [sort of]. I wanted to be a mama and I wanted to write. I wanted to make words come alive and just sparkle wherever they landed!

I don't remember the last time I sat down and wrote something meaningful.

I'm not trying to complain. I seriously adore my life. I'm jealous of me. I can't believe I get to take care of my Hubs and be Mama to these amazing tiny people. I can't believe I have an incredible Hubs who works so hard to let me live my dream. To the world, it's a small dream: Become a Mama. But to me, it is huge. Frightening, if I really think about it. With this tiny army, I can impact the world for Jesus and give everything I have to bring light and joy and love to the world. But if I do nothing intentional, if I just float through, I can end up doing more damage than good. And that thought can be overwhelming.

...Anyhow, where was I going with this...?
[May I remind you that it's after midnight?]

I love my life. I love my family. And I really mean it.
[The proofreader in me is super annoyed at seeing the word 'I' so many times...]

I want to be intentional and share something meaningful with everyone around me. Our daily life is meaningful.

So, as I dip my chipped-up-and-basically-unpolished toes into this mommy bloggy pond, I want to share with you the joy I find in the silly things we do to entertain ourselves. I always scour Pinterest, other social media, websites, and [gasp!] real books to find fun ways to teach and entertain my tiny humans... so, in whatever hour of the night I find to write, why not share a little bit of our adventures as I practice Becoming the Mama?

Yes, there will be disasters and there will be beautiful, sweet moments to savor.
And I will probably lose my mind every now and then.
But here's to life - this amazing, crazy, exhausting, and fabulous life we get to live!